Digging Deeper: Defining Creative {Adaptive} Pedagogy

Welcome to the first installment in the new "Digging Deeper" series where we zoom in on all the aspects of teaching piano to students with disabilities and exceptionalities- the amazing, the difficult, and the perplexing!

Do you remember the first context in which you heard 'pedagogy' mentioned? I was a senior in highschool and was teaching my first private piano student under the mentorship of my professor, Dr. McElwain. I remember being very curious about what 'pedagogy' might be and it led me down a rabbit hole of googling on my ancient laptop on dial-up internet (well...maybe we had wifi then. 😂 ) 

Piano Pedagogy has become a more common term, but what about "Adaptive Pedagogy" or as I call it, "Creative Pedagogy?" First, let's define what pedagogy is and how it helps us to dig deeper! 

My husband is a total science nerd (which is a good thing for someone working in the medical field!), and I love learning about Microbiology from his research and am continually amazed at how many miniscule, seemingly invisible beings can work together to create big, bad bacteria and infections. It's equally fascinating and terrifying. Just like microbiology is the study of tiny organisms, piano pedagogy is the in-depth study of teaching piano- the nitty-gritty! 

The aspects of piano pedagogy remain the same in all lessons- with adults, young beginners, and with students with disabilities who learn differently! The approach may look very differently depending on the need or level of the student, and that is when we adapt it for the student. In a real sense, teachers are continually adapting approaches for students- we realize something isn't working and shift the focus, or try something different. 

Adaptive Piano Pedagogy can be defined as:

Adaptive piano pedagogy does not mean simplified teaching- just adapted differently for each student based on their strengths and what works best for them, where they are. As we go through this "Digging Deeper" series, we'll learn how to adapt piano instruction for students with disabilities so teachers will feel confident in assessing students' needs and figuring out the best approach for piano instruction. 

You do not need experience in teaching students with disabilities or even be currently teaching students with disabilities to benefit from learning about adaptive pedagogy! Maybe you have a student with a short attention span or a student that isn't responding well to their current method series or needs extra support? That's where learning to adapt on a deeper level comes in and will give you a huge tool box of resources! 

Ultimately, piano pedagogy (and adaptive pedagogy) is the study of teaching people. 

If you have (or have had) a student situation where you adapted the music approach, how did you do that? Share in the comments below!  Thanks for being a part of this community as we dig deeper to become the best teachers for our students. 

-Elizabeth